View source for Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur les États-Unis de l'Amérique Septentrionale

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Recherches Historiques Et Politiques Sur Les États-Unis De l'Amérique Septentrionale''}}
===by Filippo Mazzei===
__NOTOC__
{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=MazzeiRecherchesHistoriques1788.jpg
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991012383649703196
|shorttitle=Recherches Historiques Et Politiques Sur Les États-Unis De l'Amérique Septentrionale
|author=[[:Category:Filippo Mazzei|Filippo Mazzei]]
|edition=First
|lang=[[:Category:French|French]]
|publoc=[[:Category:Paris|A Colle et se trouve a Paris]]
|publisher=Chez Froullé, libraire
|year=1788
|set=4
|desc=[[:Category:Octavos|8vo]] (21 cm.)
|shelf=C-2
}}[[File:MazzeiRecherchesHistoriquesEtPolitiques1788V1Headpiece.jpg|left|thumb|350px|<center>Headpiece, first page of text, volume one.</center>]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Mazzei Filippo Mazzei] (1730-1816) was born in Tuscany to a tradesman. He studied medicine in Florence and took his first trip to England in 1756 as a ship’s doctor. He remained in London for the next sixteen years and then moved to America to pursue a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viticulture viticulture] enterprise. Mazzei arrived in Virginia in 1773 and purchased property near [[Thomas Jefferson]]’s Monticello. He cultivated relationships with Jefferson and other prominent Virginians, and was appointed in 1779 as Virginia’s agent in Europe by Governor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Henry Patrick Henry]. Upon his return to Virginia, Mazzei moved his estate to Richmond where he organized the Constitutional Society, a group of pamphleteers meant to promote liberty by publishing papers on public policy.<ref>Stanley J. Idzerda, "[http://www.anb.org/articles/03/03-00595.html Mazzei, Philip]" in ''American National Biography Online'', accessed November 2,  2013.</ref>  

Mazzei sought a position in the American government but was denied because he was not a citizen. He permanently returned to Europe in 1785 and assisted Jefferson with his post as minister in Paris. Mazzei published various works throughout his lifetime in Virginian newspapers and Italian journals, signing them, "Philip Mazzei, Citizen of the United States of America."<ref>Ibid.</ref> Thomas Jefferson was especially influenced by Mazzei’s works and is known to have used an excerpt from one of Mazzei’s articles in his own writing.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Mazzei reviewed a rough draft of the [[Declaration of Independence]]<ref>''Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia'', s.v. "[http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/philip-mazzei Mazzei, Philip]," accessed November 2, 2013.</ref> and is credited with the phrase, “all men are created equal.”<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103hjres175eh/pdf/BILLS-103hjres175eh.pdf H.R.J. Res. 175], 103d Cong. (1994), 2.</ref> Mazzei’s contributions to the American cause were first officially recognized in 1980 when the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp entitled, "Philip Mazzei, Patriot Remembered.”<ref>''U.S. Stamp Gallery'', s.v. "[http://www.usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=5842d61e7d7b7bcb645c0c16b0dbe3c62b457ba0 Philip Mazzei]," accessed November 2, 2013.</ref> 
{{BookPageBookplate
|imagename=MazzeiRecherchesHistoriquesEtPolitiques1788V2Bookplate.jpg
|display=left
|caption=Bookplate of Augustus Thorndike, front pastedown, volume two.
}}
In 1788, while in Paris, Mazzei published the four-volume work ''Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur les États-Unis'' to promote the American cause. In it, Mazzei outlines the history of the American colonies, the causes of the revolution, and the economy and government of the United States. Also discussed are Indians, slavery, emigration, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_the_Cincinnati Society of the Cincinnati]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumas_Malone Dumas Malone] characterized the set as "probably the most reliable of all the works of the period on the United States.<ref>Dumas Malone, ''Jefferson and His Time'', vol. 2, ''Jefferson and the Rights of Man'' (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951), 109.</ref>

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Etats Unis de Mazzei. 4.v. in 3. 8vo.'' and given by [[Thomas Jefferson]] to his son-in-law [[Thomas Mann Randolph]]. Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on April 21, 2013.</ref> on LibraryThing list the first edition of this title as the one intended by Jefferson's entry. The Wolf Law Library acquired a copy of the first edition for the [[George Wythe Collection]].
[[File:MazzeiRecherchesHistoriquesEtPolitiques1788V4Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Inscription, front free endpaper, volume four.</center>]]
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in original plum boards and neatly rebacked in calf. Each volume inscribed "Gist Blair from the Library of Charles Levi Woodbury, 1900" on the front free endpaper. All volumes also include the bookplate of Augustus Thorndike on the front pastedown. Purchased from G.S. MacManus Co.

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/albums/72157637699436443 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991012383649703196 William & Mary's online catalog.]

==See also==
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe to Philip Mazzei, 10 August 1785]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]
</div>

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
Read volume three of this title in [http://books.google.com/books?id=I6Y6AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books].

[[Category:American History]]
[[Category:Filippo Mazzei]]
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Thomas Mann Randolph's Books]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:French]]
[[Category:Octavos]]
[[Category:Paris]]